Teaching & Learning

At Schechter Manhattan, a rigorous education is inextricably tied to the active engagement of each child at every stage of the learning process.

All learning begins from the child, originating in the child's prior experiences, understandings, and questions and proceeding outward, linking up with new, challenging experiences.

All learning is driven by the child's natural curiosity, by the need to make meaning out of daily experiences in his or her physical and social environment. Observing what happens, the child reflects on it, asks questions, and seeks to formulate answers.

All learning culminates in the child's increasing competence to understand what he or she only vaguely understood before, and to do what he or she could almost, but not quite, do before.

The key to academic excellence is to engage children deeply and continously in the learning tasks given to them. Highly focused learning produces strong intrinsic motivation and commitment to achieve new understanding or master new skills. Teachers in every grade design lessons and learning episodes so as to maximize student engagement and high-quality learning, all day long, day in and day out.